A Double Cherry On Top No - Except For You, Topaz
by clumsypegasusgirl2701
Summary: The transfer of six Southside High students quickly creates wave amongst Cheryl and her friends, and suddenly our favourite redhead finds herself drowning in feelings for a certain pink-haired Serpent, much to her dismay. (AU fic from Cheryl & Toni's POVs)
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: Bon soir, mes amis. I've had a bit of writer's block with I'm Still Here, so I worked on this so I have something else I can give you while I work out where our couple are going in that. This story is set in an AU Riverdale where Jason never died, and is, well, you'll find out. I hope you all enjoy it :)**_

 _Cheryl's POV_

"Bombshell," Veronica began, and – knowing she couldn't see me – I rolled my eyes. She had that tone of voice… the one that would either tease me or deliver bad news… It was Monday morning, the first day back after a two week Christmas vacation. I did not need either of those things from her. "Cher, look," she insisted, "is that…?"

I glanced in the direction Ronnie had pointed, and did a double take. That girl… it was her. Of course it was her. Karma hated me. I shouldn't have been surprised. Not in the slightest. But still, maybe I was. It was her. It was the Serpent girl with the bubblegum pink hair. With the flannel shirt, ripped jeans and black Doc Martens. That undeniably beautiful specimen, whom I had only ever seen once and been captivated by every moment since.

It was her.

And I was me.

She passed me, looking straight ahead; her gaze fixated on the end of the corridor. She didn't even seem to register the growing throng of students against the lockers, nor did she acknowledge the way she made them all part like the Red Sea as she walked through them.

Okay, maybe it wasn't her specifically that did that. Maybe it was the fact she was amongst a small horde of Serpents walking through the corridor, a tiny mouse surrounded by six bulky boys built like oxen. The girl in question was barely five four, and I was pretty certain at least two of those inches were given to her by her boots.

It was most definitely her, and I cursed whoever it was that hated me enough to mean that – out of the hundreds of pupils at Southside High – it was her, that specific girl, who ended up getting transferred here, to Riverdale High, in a group of six.

To misquote the Hunger Games, it would appear that the odds most definitely were not ever in my favour.

It had to be her, didn't it? The girl from Pop's.

"Earth to Cheryl?" Veronica all but shouted, popping the bubble of thought I was trapped in.

"What Ronnie?" I muttered through gritted teeth, forcefully shoving a biology textbook and my notepad into my satchel, beyond caring if it ruined the (otherwise) perfect organisation I had going on in there. I usually kept it in an OCD Marie Kondo way. I carried the bare minimum to class, instead keeping all my supplies in my locker. You see, it stops you straining muscles in your shoulder, a necessary feat if you're HBIC of the River Vixens.

"That girl's cute," she teased, and I groaned, instantly regretting telling my friend about the Serpent girl I'd been admiring from a distance in Pop's diner on Christmas Eve. I'd told her at New Year's, when both of us were just slightly drunk at Kevin's, because Jason had been quick to tell everyone of how I'd spilt my milkshake down my dress when the girl had made eye contact with me.

In the words of my twin brother, it was almost as if the Serpent girl had managed to thaw the Ice Queen.

I told him he was absolutely wrong, and he just shot me a knowing look, wandering through to Kevin's kitchen to get more beer.

"V, please don't," I moaned, shutting my locker door and turning to look at her.

Like always, Ronnie was in a black dress, with a string of fancy pearls around her neck. Her raven hair hung neatly at her shoulders, and her eyes were fully focused on my face, searching for any chinks in the armour of a disinterested expression I always wore.

"But why not…" she hollered, and I just rolled my eyes.

"We'll be late for biology, V," I pointed out, beyond wanting to engage in Veronica's teasing this morning. "Please can we go?"

"Don't pull that crap with me, Blossom," she snapped back. "Anyway, as members of the Riverdale High elite, I think we should make it our business to introduce ourselves to the new arrivals. Who knows, they might be River Vixen material."

I laughed hollowly at that. "There was one girl and she's barely tall enough to reach the middle shelf in Target. I don't think she's River Vixen material."

"Didn't stop you obviously checking her out when she walked down the corridor." Veronica pointed out, shooting me a knowing look.

"Checking who out?" A voice greeted from behind me, and I turned to see – much to my displeasure – Betty Cooper.

"Nobody, Hobo's wife," I mumbled, glaring at the blonde. It's not her fault, not really, that I don't like her. Okay, maybe it is. She is easily the most irritating person I know. And she might just happen to pop up at the most inconvenient of times to drag my best friend into her never-ending drama with her boyfriend, Jughead Jones. And her sister, Polly, might just be dating Jason. And she might be a Cooper. There it is! That's the only thing that isn't her fault. Blossoms hate Coopers, it's a blood feud that runs right back to Great-Grandpappy Blossom. That's the only thing that isn't her fault. I hate the blonde with a passion. Not just because of the feud, but just because she's, well, Betty.

"Play nice, Cheryl," Ronnie scolded, shaking her head at me, "Betty's a friend."

Me and Betty both opened our mouths to argue at that.

Veronica ignored me completely to address Betty. "You're either with me or against me, Cooper, and I know which one I'd rather be."

"Anyway, Cheryl," Betty interjected, quickly changing the subject, "who is the unlucky person to catch your eye?"

I rolled my eyes at her snide remark. "Unfortunately, nobody. Veronica just seems to believe me people watching translates as me crushing on everyone."

"Only when your eyes linger on a certain someone's ass as she walks down the corridor…"

"Would you stop?" I groaned, and Ronnie burst out laughing.

"What?" she gasped between laughs. "It's true!"

"Is not!"

"Oh, it is."

"My eyes didn't linger on her ass for god's sake V."

"Her?" Betty asked, a question that went fully ignored.

"But you admit you were watching her."

"Only because she was in my line of sight."

"What colour t-shirt was she wearing?"

"A purple flannel," I replied without missing a beat, groaning when I realised I'd proven Veronica right. "But that might not be right," I argued, "seeing as she had that Serpent jacket on."

"Serpent jacket?" Betty repeated, and I sighed in frustration at the blonde.

"Could you just shut up?" I demanded. "I'm trying to talk to my bestie."

In response, Betty just broke into a fit of giggles. "Toni Topaz?"

"What?" I asked, not sure what she was getting at.

"The girl you were checking out is Toni Topaz?"

"How am I supposed to know?" I grumbled. "I've never spoken to her before."

"Small, ripped jeans, pink hair, flannels, Doc Martens and a Serpent jacket?" Betty described.

"That matches our suspect." Veronica interrupted. "Come again B, what's her name."  
"Don't you fucking dare, Cooper," I muttered.

"That would be Toni Topaz, V," Betty replied, and I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.

"Why would you do that?" I muttered well aware my question would go ignored.

"Time to get insta stalking then. Any idea what her handle is?"

"She's following Jug, but idk."

"Guys…" I groaned. "Can we not?"

"Why not?" Ronnie argued. "We're all for new friends round here."

Noticing the mischievous glint in her eye, and the smirk on her lips, I shook my head. "There is no way that's innocent friendship."

"Oh it is for us," Betty declared. "But if you're checking her out…"

Betty's sentence was cut short by the arrival of Kevin Keller who, forgetting about me, was Riverdale High's resident gay.

"Hey you guys," he greeted, "guess what?"

"You got off again with Moose in Fox Forest last night?" Veronica suggested.

"Perhaps, but that's not it," he said. "I was in the student lounge with Jason and Archie and guess what!"

"What, Kev?" Betty asked, giving the poor guy a chance to spill his gossip.

"A horde of Southside Serpents just strolled in. Six of them. Five very sexy hunks of junk, I will admit, and one petite fille, who, in my eyes, is tres belle. But that's not the best of it…"

"For god's sake, Kev, just tell us," I said, shaking my head.

"The girl, Cheryl, she's bi."

"Toni Topaz likes girls?" Betty asked, slightly bewildered.

"Toni is a Top," Veronica joked, and I groaned again as she and Betty burst into a fit of giggles.

Seeing my obvious frustration and the duo's amusement at Veronica's statement, Kevin looked confused. "Am I missing something here?"

Betty smirked at me, opening her mouth to speak. "Bombshell has the hots for Toni Topaz."

"No way!" Kevin exclaimed.

"For god's sake guys!" I said, shaking my head at the trio. "I watch a girl walk down the corridor and suddenly I'm into her. What will it be if you guys ever see my talk to her?"

"A proposal?" Kevin joked, and Ronnie high fived him as the trio all started to laugh.

Fighting my own smirk, I stuck my middle finger up at him. "Just to clarify, I will admit the Serpent girl is cute, but that does not mean – by any sense of the word – that I am into her."

"Disappointing, Blossom," Veronica replied. "I do believe dear Penelope brought you and Jason up not to tell lies…"

"That she did," someone said from behind me, and I turned around again to be faced with my twin brother. "So tell me V, what's my baby sis been making up now?"

"I'm not your 'baby sis' Jason. I'm ten minutes younger than you."

"And those ten minutes were the best of my life," he retorted, turning his attention to the others. "So, Lodge, what's my baby sis been lying about?"

"Just about her crush?" Veronica mused. "Did you see who's amongst the new arrivals?"

"Is this Diner Darling?" Jason teased, tickling me.

"Fuck off, the lot of you!" I shrieked. "Leave me alone!"

"I take that as a yes," he deadpanned, and the entire group started laughing.

The bell rang, and suddenly that familiar wave of students started to surge through the corridors, washing pupils up outside their various classrooms.

I breathed a sigh of relief, because it appeared I was going to be freed from my friends' teasing by the promise of double biology.

 _Saved by the bell_ , I thought, as we all went our separate ways.

Arriving at bio, me and Ronnie walked through the door to the lab and I froze in the doorway, not amused in the slightest.

There, sitting at the desk I did, in the seat next to mine, was none other than the Serpent girl. Toni Topaz, whatever Betty had called her.

"This is hilarious," Veronica mused, walking to go join Josie in their seats.

I groaned under my breath as I attempted to regain my composure.

Well, fuck.

 _ **AN: Thank you so much for reading this! I hope you enjoyed it, and would greatly appreciate if you could follow, or favourite, and be massively grateful if you drop a review to tell me what you guys think, and if I should continute… five reviews and I'll post my next chapter :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN/ Salut mes amis, I am backkkkkk. How are we all? I apologise for slow uploads all round, because I've been a bit overwhelmed lately, and preoccupied by never ending homework, a horrible mess in my head caused by my Ex (long story) and the perks of anxiety. But, I now have a week off of college, giving me plenty of time to write, so here is a little something to make up for my absence. By the end of the week, I should hopefully have uploaded to I'm Still Here and TMYLM, even if it's been like nine months since I've uploaded to that. Thank you all for your continued support of my writing, and I hope we're all doing okay atm.**_

 _ **Here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy...**_

 **Toni's POV:**

The first time I was exposed to Cheryl Blossom, all I could think was fuck that redhead was hot, closely followed by well that girl's cold.

I had biology, and was sat at the only seat the teacher had spare. Jughead sniggered when I was allocated my spot, and I turned towards him.

"Care to tell me what's so funny, Jones?"

He laughed right back. "Oh, just you wait and see…"

Half an hour later, I realised why he was so amused. I was sat next to her. Of course I was. It had to be that one, the redhead from the diner. Karma's a bitch.

I'd made multiple attempts at conversation, and all I'd got was her name, a dirty look, and a shuffle towards the opposite side of the desk. Cheryl Blossom seemed to be barely tolerating my presence, and – not for the first time – I was slowly growing irritated.

Mr Beacham then came round with some textbooks, uttering instructions of how we were to work in twos to fill out the big sheets on mitosis and meiosis, and we'd be getting a baseline grade for this term based on how we worked within our teams.

The second teams were mentioned, Cheryl's hand shot up.

"Mr Beacham, sir," she began, her voice cold and confident. "Surely if this is an assessment, we should be better off working individually."

A murmur of dissent went up from the rest of the class, and several frosty glares were shot Cheryl's way.

"I mean," she continued, "it's not fair to do that."

"You'll manage, Cheryl. Now class, get on."

With a huff of frustration, she turned to face me for the first time.

Glancing at her, I took in that porcelain skin, those brown eyes, eyes that were stone cold, finding myself wishing there was something I could do to make them warm. Her jaw was set and those lips, plump and coated in a startling red lipstick, perfectly applied with no smudges whatsoever. Her lips were in a frown, and I found myself fixated on them, taking in the faint smell of cherries that surrounded the girl, wondering, just a tiny bit, what those lips felt like. After all, they looked so soft…

"Well, are you just going to stare at me like or a creep or are you going to do something?" she demanded, and I was shaken out of my daydream.

"Huh?" I replied, still in a slight daze, my mind far away from textbooks and teachers. "What did you say?"

With a look of distaste, she shook her head. "Just pick a damn sheet and fill it in, will you? And try not to mess it up with your stupid Southside underachievement."

"Feisty." I deadpanned, smirking when I saw the redhead frown at me.

"Just get the work done."

"They really don't lie about you, do they Bombshell?" I asked, picking up a sheet labelled mitosis and starting to fill it in.

"What do you mean?" she replied through gritted teeth, filling in a box about the concept of crossing over in a neat elegant script. "And please don't call me 'Bombshell' – only my friends call me that."

"And we aren't friends?" I joked, well aware of the glare shot my way in reply. "And, what I mean is, for a girl on fire, you're pretty cold, aren't you?"

"Can you just stop?" she snapped. "Please." She paused for a moment, as if she was deep in thought. "Just shut up."

I smirked when she said that, diverting my attention to the – mostly empty – sheet in front of me. Unlike Cheryl, who had started to write on the thing like one would an essay, I started to draw pictures, labelling the diagrams and colouring chromosomes.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Filling in the sheet on mitosis."

"I can see that. Can't you do it properly?"

"I am doing it properly. What do you call this?"

"I call it drawing. Not writing."

"He didn't say we had to write about mitosis."

"But I did."

"No, you didn't."

"Well I am now. Surely you have enough brains to see someone else do something and follow suit."

"Well yes, but I'm no copycat. And anyway, I'm a more visual learner."

Cheryl sighed and diverted her attention back to her own sheet, filling the page with even more notes in various coloured pens, the letters looping together. I shook my head looking at it, knowing stuff like that was not my forte, not at all.

We sat in silence for the remainder of the lesson, only speaking when the teacher gave us a five-minute warning to time up. Even then, it wasn't as if we had an actual conversation, as her words were nothing more than 'write your name on that one, will you?' and 'for god's sake spell chromosome correctly.'

When the teacher picked up our sheets, he nodded his approval when he picked them up. "Miss Topaz, I must say I'm loving the creativity on yours."

"Thanks," I replied, waiting until he was out of earshot before turning to Cheryl. "Hear that Bombshell?"

"Fuck you, Topaz, and yes I did."

"Never make a hollow threat, Blossom," I replied, grabbing my bag as the bell rang.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

In response I winked, smirking as I turned to walk away.

Cheryl remained at the desk, stunned into silence.

* * *

"So Topaz," a voice quipped from behind me, "I see you experienced the very warmest of hospitality from Riverdale High's peppiest student this morning."

"There are places in the Antarctic warmer than Cheryl Blossom, Jones," I joked, and the raven haired boy chuckled. "Seriously though, what's her problem?"

"Suppressed homosexuality?" the boy joked, and I rolled my eyes at him. "I don't know, Toni, she's just a bitch by nature is my assumption, always has been, and probably always will be."

We wandered towards the cafeteria, and took seats at a table in one of the four corners, waiting for Fangs and Sweetpea to join us. Jughead pulled out his laptop, and started tapping at the keys. Feeling his focus shift from reality to the alternate universe we all existed in within his novel, I let my own attention drift from the boy sat in front of me, towards the doorway, watching various students wander in and out, wondering whether a certain redhead would appear.

A blonde walked into the cafeteria, and shot me a wave before coming to join me and Jughead. Of course she did, Betty Cooper was usually inseparable from her boyfriend.

"Heyyy," she hollered, taking a seat next to Jughead. "How are you finding it here, Toni?"

"Cold?" I replied, making myself laugh and Jughead chuckle.

"What?" Betty replied, appearing confused. "Why?"

"Bombshell," Jughead clarified. "She was pretty frosty."

"She's like that with everyone Toni, so I wouldn't worry."

"Who would that be?" a voice demanded, and I frowned as a girl I'd never met before took the seat next to me.

"Cheryl," Betty told her, and the Latina nodded.

"Who are you?" I muttered.

"Toni, Veronica, Veronica, Toni," Betty said, and the other girl smiled.

"Hi, I'm Ronnie."

"Hi."

"I'm Cheryl's best friend."

"Lucky you," I deadpanned, making everyone at the table laugh. "Tell me, is she like that with everyone?"

"Only people she doesn't like… and people she likes… actually yeah she's like that with everyone."

"Are we discussing my sister?" a boy asked, sitting down next to Veronica, and between the flame red hair and the letterman jacket it took little to realise the boy was Jason Blossom. "Wait? Is that Diner Dar – Ouch!"

Veronica suppressed a laugh as Jason dropped his fork, shooting him a warning look.

"What was that?" I asked, and the trio all looked away.

"Nothing," Jason declared, looking slightly sheepish.

"Thought so."

"Hey guys," a boy declared, taking the seat next to Betty and directing the boy who arrived with him to the seat beside him. He handed his leather satchel to the other boy, gesturing for it to be put on the next available seat. I knew who he was before he even mentioned his name. "Hey, we haven't met properly yet, have we? I'm Kevin Keller."

"The gay one?" I asked, and he nodded with a grin.

"What gave it away?"

"Just the satchel. And the fact you look like a Ken doll."

"Ouch," he replied dramatically, and I laughed at him.

"Erm, why are we sitting here?" a voice demanded, and the whole group's attention to the redhead who was stood behind Betty, hand on her hip, her face a mask of indifference.

"We're making new friends, Cheryl," Jason declared, "come, join us."

"I think I'll pass," she muttered, "stranger danger and all that."

"Well here," I said, getting up from my seat, "remove me from the table and there is no danger. But we do already know each other, Bombshell."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't take the seat. "I'm not fussed, and anyway, I probably need to go get some work done in the library."

"Well I might join you," I suggested, "get better acquainted with this school and all that."

She sighed with exasperation, and her friends all smirked. "Fine."

She started to walk away, but then turned around. "Well hurry up, Topaz. I don't save people seats."

Once she was out of earshot, I slipped back into my set and grabbed my bag. "Kevin?"

"Yeah?"

"If I tell you may gaydar tingles when I see Cheryl would I be experiencing accurate judgement?"

"Most certainly. Is there a reason for that?"

I tapped a finger against my nose, and made my way towards the door. They started talking almost immediately, all of them whispering in hushed voices.

Betty Cooper has never been that good a whisperer, something that has always frustrated me. Even over the rumble of everyone else's voices, I heard her mention 'Choni'.

Leaving the room, I tried to find a reason to be annoyed by them implying me and the Blossom girl could become a thing. Thinking only of my daydream when I first looked at the redhead, I couldn't find a single one. It wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen, that was for sure.

* * *

"Hey Bombshell," I called, raising my voice so the retreating redhead could hear. "How about we sack off the library and head elsewhere?"

"What?" she exclaimed, turning around to face me, her face showing her evident disapproval.

"You heard me. I'm free next period, and I think you might be too? How about we go out somewhere together?"

"Go out somewhere? Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's school time. Because I have work to do…"

"Come on, Bombshell, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Currently? It's working out whether or not anyone would miss you if you were to be involved in a tragic accident."

"Wow, they don't lie about you Blossoms being psychos… What do you say?"

"I say nobody would miss you and it might be worth pushing you down the stairs."

"You'd miss me though," I joked confidently, walking towards her and placing a gentle hand on her arm. "I see right through your act, Bombshell, I know you like the company in Bio."

"You. Know. Nothing!" she snapped through gritted teeth. "Now get your sapphic serpent hands OFF of my body!"

Before I had chance to react, she'd shook her arm so I was forced to let go, storming off down the corridor. I stood stunned, not entirely sure what had just happened.

A hollow round of applause came from behind me, and I turned to face a girl with blonde curls, who smiled sadly at me when she saw my face. "You've got a lot to learn about the way Cheryl Blossom works, haven't you?"

"Who are you?" I demanded, because – other than a vague mental image of this girl in Pop's with some of her other Riverdale High cronies – I'd never met her.

"Oh, I'm Heather," she replied. "Cheryl's ex."

 _ **AN/ Thank you so much for reading this guys, and I hope you have enjoyed it. If you're feeling kind today, please drop me a review so I know how I'm doing, because I do love to hear from you guys :)**_


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